easily break an appendage. They do, however, enjoy a much better eyesight than humans. The location of their eponymous homeworld is unknown. They have numerous colonies, including planets in the Sirius system. The Hiksi are a caste-based society, depending on which task an individual is more suited for, with the castes differentiated by skin pigmentation. When a new generation of Hiksi is ready to take over, the oldest generation commits a mass ritualistic suicide. Despite this custom, they are not that different from humans psychologically. For example, they have analogs to television, advertisements, circus, etc. Along with the Daenlo, the Hiksi are responsible for humanity. Daenlo appear as large rhinoceroses with tentacles on their faces. They have a powerful fleet. Responsible for humanity. Torpp are a unique race of non-biological organisms. They appear as small stars and appear to be composed of plasma encased in force fields. Their homeworld is a star. They are able to travel through space without ships. Jen'sh a race of engineers that appear as a cross between a bee and a monkey. It was previously thought that the Jen'sh were a Weak race. Known Weak Races Humanity has joined the Conclave in the 2020s. There have not been measurable technological advances in that time. The exceptions are the jumper, holographic image projectors, and thermobaric weapons capable of destroying an aircraft carrier with one hit. Most governments have their own space programs. Nearly 20% of Earth population works is in some way working in a space-related industry. Certain facts are known from the books: Moscow is no longer the capital of Russia after a military junta has taken over the government; there have been armed conflicts in the Caucasus for nearly three decades; Russia and Ukraine fought over Crimea, after which the peninsula was recognized as an independent state. Counters are a non-biological race of living computers. They are capable of quickly and precisely working out any mathematical problem. The Counters consider the word "counter" to be an insult, but have not revealed their own name for their race. Their homeworld is a ringed gas giant. The counters see their life's purpose as the discovery of the original truth. The Counters appear as average-sized, grey, scaly reptiles. Their blue eyes glow in the dark. They possess two independent levels of consciousness: internal (works with information in terms of bytes) and external (similar to other races' consciousness).